Chris Christie said North Carolina GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson is taking the Donald Trump “approach” by staying in the 2024 race on Sunday after bombshell reports found that he was behind a number of disturbing comments on a porn website.
Christie, in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” told George Stephanopoulos that the North Carolina lieutenant governor was “emulating” what he thinks the former president would do in his scenario.
“Which is to say ‘Hell, I’m not gettin’ out,′ despite all of the problems his candidacy is creating,” said the former New Jersey governor in remarks prior to four senior staffers resigning from Robinson’s campaign on Sunday.
“And here’s the other thing: This was predictable.”
Christie’s comments come days after CNN dropped a report tying Robinson to a number of shocking posts on the porn site that arrived prior to his political career including one where he called himself a “black NAZI” and another where he described himself as “perv” for pornography of transgender people.
Robinson has since denied that he made the comments on the site.
Christie, who endorsed Trump in 2016 before eventually becoming a critic, said that Robinson’s “tenure in public life” has shown him to make “erratic, sometimes highly offensive statements over and over again.”
“And Donald Trump supported him and endorsed him,” said Christie, who cited the former president describing Robinson as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
He added that Trump backing Robinson is a “problem” for Republicans.
“As long as Donald Trump is your recruiting agent for candidates in swing states, we’re gonna continue to get our rear ends handed to us,” Christie said.
Polls show Robinson trailing his opponent North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein including those that show the Democrat leading by double-digit percentage points over the Republican.
Christie told Stephanopoulos that Robinson was not going to win the race, adding that he’s running against a “very formidable candidate.”
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“So the fact is, this was gonna be a tough race no matter what and the problem for them now, George, is how much will it affect the top of the ticket,” he said.
Stephanopoulos later asked Christie whether Trump has to do more to distance himself from Robinson following the reports, adding that the former president didn’t mention him or repudiate him at a campaign rally on Saturday.
Christie predicted that Trump will distance himself “more and more” from Robinson.
“Mark Robinson is starting to get the feel for what it’s like to have been a former friend of Donald Trump’s,” he said.
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